Getting Started With Wet Felting Is Really Beginner Friendly

You can create beautiful felt pieces with this step-by-step , easy to follow, process that will have you turning wool fibre into a beautifully finished piece of felt fabric. You need a 'big enough' flat surface, preferably but not necessarily high enough so that you dont have to stress your back . Cover the surface with something waterproof and lay a towel on top of that. It can be helpful if the bottom waterproof surface can be moved to make it easier for you. You need to be able to access your work from all directions. This is not essential but it is helpful. I am using merino wool roving, but all wool will felt. You can use raw fleece or combed fleece, wool batts and lots of other types of wool. But dont worry .. just use what you can access. It will be fine. And yes, sheep are not the only animals whose wool will felt. In this video I have used olive oil soap because it is not too sudsy. I only use warm water except right at the end where I might want to shock the wool fibres into felting /shrinking a bit more. I understand that many felters use pool bubble wrap but any bubble wrap with those lovely blisters will advance the felting process. The thinner bubble wrap is easy to use and you can see through it. Use the non bubble side in contact with the wool at first but then turn it over and work with the bubbly side facing each surface of the project. In the days before bubble wrap, feltmakers used net curtaining or tulle. Some also use lightweight mosquito mesh or flywire as we call it in Australia. When you get to the rolling stage you can use a towel, a bamboo mat or a matchstick blind the right size. While there is a definite science to feltmaking. There are any number of ways to make wool felt or to make wool felt a bit differently. The one thing we know for certain about felt is that if you lie wool fibres near each other, gently then increasingly forcefully, stroke, agitate, rub, roll in all directions,drop and splat you will have a piece of felt. So ... What would you use this for? For a start it will make an excellent cleaning cloth.. absolutely brilliant as a duster a polisher , wet or dry, a beautiful book cover, purse or cross body bag, pot mitt, pot stand, wrist warmer, play mat and many more items. I am looking after a 93 year old, full time so I use this felt piece as a little mat that I can use to protect a surface and ensure that kitchen sounds are muted. Similarly I use the mat under hot plates and pans. It can even go in a microwave under a plate of soup being warmed. It works well. People with dementia can enjoy stroking a lovely surface and this one is defintely soothing. It will feel beautiful. I have deliberately made a video that better describes the actual time it takes as well as the flexibility of how you work. Some parts can be repeated again and again until you are happy with the work. The most important thing is that you start slowly and dont try to rush. the slower you work the better you are likely to be. When it is possible to do so... hold your piece up to a light...the sun, tape it to a window... You will be easily able to see any spaces where there is little or almost no wool. And if there are spaces... then you can either check regularly along the way and add a bit of wool to fix it or... you could also needle felt in some wool if that works better for you to fix a few weak spots. And... Yes you can use the sander for longer if you like. Once the felt is together enough you can use the sander. You can also use a microwave to heat your wool parcel and use it a few times if needed. And...One I didnt show here.... Put your parcel into a zip lock plastic bag and put it out in the sun or in your car on a warm/ hot day. I am pretty sure that speeds up the felting too. And.... one last one...wrap up your felted work in progress and leave it alone over night. or longer if you can . Being rejected can also shock the work into felting.. Or maybe I am just imagining this. Try it and see.